C to Lafayette Ave
Photographs: Dan Eckstein
The Lafayette station is only a short walk from the chaos and fumes of Flatbush Avenue, but the tree-lined streets and low-key foot traffic make it feel undiscovered—for now, anyway.
“It’s gonna turn into Park Slope in a decade,” says 18-year-old Jared Butler, a Fort Greene native who can often be found gobbling burgers at Mullanes (71 Lafayette Ave at South Elliott Pl, 718-797-7606), an airy sports bar with a “buttload of TVs” (eight, to be exact). Owner David Finnegan, 45, extols the virtues of his gut-busting Elliotts Burger, topped with fried onions, cheddar and horseradish sauce.
Tyler Kord, a 31-year-old chef who lives in the neighborhood, tells us that he buys gifts for his wife at Stuart & Wright (85 Lafayette Ave between South Elliot Pl and South Portland Ave; 718-797-0011, stuartandwright.com). The first thing we notice is the store’s Art Deco FRENCH GARMENT CLEANERS sign. “This used to be our dry cleaner. They were here for, like, 40 years,” says Alec Stuart, 28, a Pratt Institute alum who opened the boutique two and a half years ago with co-owner Celeste Wright. “Once in a while, [the sign] confuses people; they try to drop off their dry cleaning.” The store is stocked with impeccable indie wear, from comfy cashmere sweaters to cropped jackets by local designers and a few French labels like Isabel Marant. Prices start around $100.
Stuart and Wright say they both drool over the meat-loaf sandwich at barbecue lunch spot The Pig (64 Lafayette Ave at South Elliott Pl; 718-797-0292, littlepiggymarket.com)—and Wright is a vegetarian. The sweet smell of barbecue sauce hits your nose the second you walk through the door. Co-owner Ben Grossman, 38, makes our stomach grumble with his description of the veghead-converting loaf: “We use caramelized onion and Swiss cheese, and we char-grill the bread so it gets that great flavor.” The Pig stops serving food at 4pm, but shares a space with another Grossman business, The Smoke Joint (87 South Elliott Pl at Lafayette Ave; 718-797-1011, thesmokejoint.com), open for dinner. From that menu, Grossman’s fave is the deep-fried Black Angus hot dog.
Outside the restaurant, we find Farzi Hemmasi, a 33-year-old grad student waiting for a table. She recommends Moe’s (80 Lafayette Ave at South Portland Ave; 718-797-9536, moesbrooklyn.com) for its “mellow pickup scene.” It’s daytime, but regulars of all ages line the bar. The back area is outfitted with mismatched furniture, a Galaga/Ms. Pac-Man machine, and a painting of Moe from The Simpsons. Tuesdays are karaoke night, and the daily happy hour (3–7:30pm) moves two-for-one beers.
Nearing the end of our exploration, we seek out Bittersweet (180 DeKalb Ave between Carlton Ave and Cumberland St, 718-852-2556), which Wright had recommended for its “crack in a cup” coffee. The cozy café serves La Colombe brews and Balthazar pastries, and smells heavenly. Plus there’s free Wi-Fi—if you can snag a table. Also widely recommended: the 30-acre historic Fort Greene Park (DeKalb Ave between Cumberland St and Fort Greene Plne Pl, fortgreenepark.org), designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux and home to tennis courts, playgrounds and the 148-foot-high Prison Ship Martyrs Monument. Every Saturday, local farmers gather here from 8am to 5pm to sell cheese, honey, bacon, apples, herbs and more, but we’re content just lazing on a bench and letting the rest of the city fall away.
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